Who Else Wants Help For Adrenal Exhaustion? Adrenal Support For Adrenal Stress.

I covered 30 symptoms of adrenal fatigue in an earlier article, so I’ve been asked what to do to heal adrenal exhaustion. Adrenal stress is one of the biggest issues in peoples health that I have seen in my practice. It isn’t hard to bring them back up with proper care. The hard part for most people is the change in diet that is necessary.

There are different levels of what you can do for the adrenals. It depends on how bad things are, what you can afford — some of the better supplements are expensive, and what you are willing to do.

Adrenal dysfunction primarily comes from diet and emotional stress. We’ll start with diet.

Adrenal Dysfunction And Diet
The adrenals are the base line energy for the body. In Chinese medicine they call it kidney chi. They also say that cold food and drinks are hard on kidney chi and should be avoided.

One of the most important avoidance’s is processed foods which includes all forms of sugar (there are exceptions, I’ll talk about theme another time). Sugar includes honey, maple syrup, fructose, dried fruit, fruit juice, carrot juice, sweet fruits like red apples, oranges and bananas, and any other kinds of ‘natural sugar.’ The body metabolizes all of these sugars the same way it does white sugar. And, all put severe stress on the adrenals.

All processed foods like bread and noodles, even whole wheat or other alternate grains are also to be avoided. If grains are ground up they are processed and will metabolize in almost as bad a way as white sugar. It doesn’t matter if the original form was whole or not. White rice is also out unless you get the low glycemic kind. Thick whole oats are okay, but the steel cut ones aren’t.

If you’re really committed, you could give up grains all together. That will help a lot. This is really hard for most people to do, so only try this if you are really ready for something like that. Minimizing grains is another option. Eating boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes (not baked) can help you too feel full.

I’ve made it a life practice to not eat grains at all. I only eat animal protein, vegetables and a little fruit. This is called the paleolithic diet since that is what our most early ancestors ate. It is what our bodies evolved eating, and it’s what is best for optimum health.

Animal protein is essential to bringing up the adrenals. If you are vegetarian then things are going to be much harder to correct and will take much longer. I’ll write on how to do that if anyone wants me to.

Animal protein means fowl (chicken, turkey), eggs, fish and limited red meat like pork and beef. Different bodies can tolerate different types of animal protein, but that is a long discussion. Most body types do fine with fowl, eggs and fish, but rotate the types of fish you eat.

You can also use protein powders like whey and egg white protein. These are really good for when you are in a hurry.

It is stressful on the adrenals to go hungry, so it’s important to eat when your body asks for food. The problem happens an hour or so after hunger hits, when you stop feeling hungry. It’s an adrenal hormone that brings up the blood sugar causing you to not feel so hungry anymore.

Also, you should have animal protein every time you eat anything. The only exception might be if you were to have nuts as a snack to keep from being hungry. Almonds are the best as they are mostly fat, and the little bit of carbohydrate they have in them won’t cause a spike in the blood sugar. Cashews are not as good as they have a high carbohydrate content. Peanuts are not nuts, they are carbohydrate. They should only be eaten with protein.

Adrenal Supplements
Adrenal support in the form of supplement adrenal is a big subject. Here are three protocols with a little variation.

If your adrenals are in really bad shape you can take whole desiccated adrenal cortex, but only for a short time. Taking it for too long causes the adrenals to burn out even more. One an hour for five to seven days is one protocol that will kick start the adrenals. Stop taking it three or four hours before bed so you can sleep. You’ll feel pretty good in a day or two, but the adrenals are not yet in good shape. They need more nutrition to heal completely.

If you use the desiccated adrenal, take it for a few days, then switch to another protocol. I know this is repeating myself, but it’s important.

The cheapest nutrition is a few B vitamins and an amino acid. B6 is probably the most important one since most people in the world have a deficiency in it. The reason is that the body doesn’t have the necessary enzymes to convert B6 into its usable form. Red bell pepper has those enzymes if you juice or eat a lot of raw vegetables. About a half of a medium sized pepper a day is what it takes. The seeds are even higher in the enzymes. Otherwise, you can get pyrodoxyl 5 phosphate, or P5P. This is the enzyme activated form of B6. Five tablets a day with food in two doses is optimal. The ingredients on most will say either 50 or 34 mg, or something close to that. The numbers are the same, different parts are measured.

Two other B vitamins are pantothenic acid and niacinamide. The dossage is 300 mg per day with food, morning or evening, just pick the time you’d like to take it. Both usually come in 500 mg tablets, it’s okay to take the whole tablet.

Note: Be sure to get niacinamide and not niacin. The later causes a skin flush that is rather unpleasant and not necessary.

Vitamin C is also needed. 5000 mg a day. Break this one up into three or four doses, with food.

B12 is the final one. 400 to 600 mcg a day in two doses, also with food. Get the enzyme activated form if you can, it just works better.

The amino acid that helps the adrenals is found in mushrooms, so you can eat them raw or supplement with tyrosine. 500 mg in the morning will probably make you feel great.

These supplements are available in most health food stores for a reasonable price. You might not be able to find the adrenal cortex though. I use one from Standard Process called Whole Desiccated Adrenal. You can probably find it online even though it goes against Standard Process’s terms to sell over the internet, but people do it anyway.

The best supplements for the adrenals are from a company called Apex Energetics. It is against their terms to sell their products unless you are a licensed medical practitioner, but again, people do it anyway. Adrenastim and adrenacalm are the main ones. They are in a cream form which you apply topically. They come with a little spoon for measuring, a slightly rounded spoon full is a dose. In other words, not much. Apply it to an area where there isn’t any hair to impede absorption. Use the adrenastim twice a day, morning and around noon. It can keep you up at night, so avoid taking it too late. And, use adrenacalm three times a day.

If the adrenals are in pretty bad shape you will need adaptocrine. Four tablets a day in three doses if you can remember, two if you have trouble remembering to take supplement three times.

Another good protocol is herbal. I only use the highest quality herbs, and the only two companies that have good herbs that I know of are MediHerb and Kroeger Herbs. I’ve only used MediHerb, so I’ll give those dosages.

Use the liquid herbs from MediHerb, not only are they better, but they are more cost effective. Licorice root, the high grade, 4 ml per day, and Siberian Ginseng 11 ml per day. You can just mix them up and take them in two dosages on an empty stomach is best. This is for the first few weeks. After you feel better you will want to change the herbs, usually in four weeks or so.

Ashwaganda (withania) and Rehmannia are for when the adrinals are a little stronger but not yet fully healed. Mix the two with just a little more ashwaganda than rehmannia and take 15 ml per day, also on an empty stomach.

That’s the basics. There is a lot more to the subject, but you could easily get yourself back in decent shape in one to six weeks. Twelve weeks at the most. It all depends on age and how desperate the adrenals are.

Feel free to ask questions about this. Using the comment box with this post is the best as I’ll get those sooner than an email.

You can learn more about the adrenal glands from wikipedia.

Meet the Author

Kalidasa

Hello and welcome to my blog! There are several reasons I decided to start writing a blog on natural self-healing. The main thing I want to do is to share information on health and healing so that people can take action to heal themselves using natural techniques. I have met so many people who couldn't afford natural health care. They may have had health insurance, but they didn't trust that model. Many people want to know how to be healthy naturally. They want to know what really works and what doesn't. They want to be health conscious and often fail because of poor information, lack of knowledge, bad science and other factors. This blog is intended to help demystify the body and its various functions and to help people understand what is really needed to obtain optimum health. One of the great things about knowledge of the body is that once you know and understand how it works it becomes easy to know what the right things to do for it. And, it is much easier to do the right things when the consequences of the wrong things are fully understood. To do this I will be drawing from the knowledge of many people that I have learned from. I will talk about biochemistry relating that to what is needed to obtain optimum health. There will be information about the physical structure of the body and how to keep that aligned and functioning well. A major part of yoga has to do with health, so information about yogic techniques will be included. Mental and emotional health are important for the health of the body/mind, so articles about these topics will be included. And, there will be an occasional article about me and what I am up to. Hopefully I can relate that back to some health issue as well. The title Self Adjusting Technique comes from my technique for self-adjusting the structural part of the body, that is adjusting the body's various vertebrae and joints. For this blog it will include the idea of how to adjust health issues for yourself and those you care about. With a little knowledge there is a lot people can do to help heal themselves and stay healthy. I want to explain complex information about the body in a way that is easy to understand and useful. The comments section will help in that goal as people can ask for clarification if there is something they don't understand. And maybe we can get some helpful input from people smarter than me that will benefit us all. I hope you find information that can help you with your health issues. Kalidasa

95 comments… add one
  • PK Apr 16, 2009, 10:04 am

    Kalidassa,

    Thank you for the help, I certainly understand that not everything can be diagnosed over email.

    I am located in New England and my cousin in Ohio so getting out west would be difficult. Is there anyone in particular on the East Coast that would be able to help him that you may know well and could recommend? He is so bad that maybe even a trip out west would be called for to see you. He is a great guy with a great family and is just very sick and depressed and it seems that he has just about given up.

    Please let me know when you can.

    Thanks,
    Jeff

  • Kalidasa Apr 16, 2009, 2:50 pm

    Jeff,
    I won’t be back till May 8. Maybe we can do a phone session when I get back. Also, I have a friend who knows a lot more healers around the country that I do. I’ll ask him about people closer to you.

    You can have him email me too, there is a contact form tab at the top of the blog.

  • Angela Apr 23, 2009, 9:35 am

    Kalidasa,
    I was wondering how long you think it takes to heal the Adrenals. I had saliva testing done and my cortisol is low. I just started ISOCORT with a low dosage of l/2 pellet at breakfast and lunch. I read about these other products, like dessicated adrenal, and glandulars. I also read about the B-Vitamins, C, Tyrosine, A, E, manganese, zine, chromium, selenium and other trace elements but how do I know what protocol to follow to heal my adrenals? My doctor says it could take up to a year or more to heal them which means I won’t lose any weight till then? Are the glandulars or dessicated adrenal a better option towards healing the adrenals more effectively?

    Thank you,
    Angela

  • Kalidasa Apr 23, 2009, 1:24 pm

    Angela,
    What time of day was your cortisol low? The best saliva test is done four times during the day. Cortisol should be high at night, the test is usually done upon awakening, and it should be low the rest of the day. Also, how low was it?

    I usually do an applied kinesiology test to determine what protocol is needed, there are so many. It usually only takes 6 – 12 weeks though a really bad case can take up to six months. And, most people need to continue with a maintenance supplement.

    What are your symptoms? Maybe I can tell how far they are depleted from them.

  • kathy Apr 24, 2009, 4:52 pm

    Thanks for the information! It is really helpful. I drink 6 cups of coffee a day. I know it is bad. Does too much coffee hurt your adrenals?

  • Kalidasa Apr 24, 2009, 5:14 pm

    Coffee can be really hard on the adrenals, worse for some than others. One sign of really wiped out adrenals is if caffeine doesn’t cause the usual buzz. And, it can be very toxic, the toxins cause the withdraw headaches when you quit.

  • Erma Apr 28, 2009, 6:33 am

    Found your interesting website. Am having a problem with 5th Cervical and resulting pain in right shoulder and arm. Chiropractor suggested adrenal problem. Also said I have a hiatal hernia which causes reflux. Overall tired feeling (could be result of pain). I’m 64. Can I turn this around with your regimen?

    Also have a salty taste in my mouth much of the time. I have upped water consumption.
    Thank you

  • Alison Apr 28, 2009, 9:25 am

    Hi
    Thank you for all the information you have put on the web about adrenal fatigue. Iwent to the doctors telling them that my back hurt after I ate sugar and they told me it couldn’t be related! After eating a lot of chocolate at Easter and feeling really bad I knew I had to do something. I’ve been trying to avoid sugar for about 10 days now (and have cut caffeine intake to 3 a day). The thing is I’ve been getting other symptoms such as vivid dreams, really thirsty (dry mouth) and feeling quite emotional. Is this normal when someone starts this diet and will I start to feel better soon?
    Thanks

  • Traci Apr 29, 2009, 11:35 am

    Kalidasa,
    Thank you for all your useful information. I do see a holistic practitioner occassionally not as often as I would like due to cost. I am struggling on removing grains from my diet and know that it is something I have to do as I suffer from severe bloating, gas and heartburn when I eat them. It is just very hard when my husband and 3 children can all eat them. I get extremely tired around 12-1 pm everyday and after a couple hours I get my second wind. My dr has me on Maca and I have been taking it for quite some time and it used to work very well for this but lately it has not and I am wondering if my adrenals need something new/more? I started exercising in January and exercise 5-6 days a week for an hour and have not lost any weight either and my energy levels still seem low and the last few months my PMS has also been rather intense. Any insight would be much appreciated!
    Thank you,
    Traci

  • Kalidasa Apr 29, 2009, 3:43 pm

    Erma,
    I believe that the body wants to heal, all you have to do is give it the opportunity. There are a lot of things that can be done for you I am sure.

    Here is an article on C5 and how sugar relates to it going out chronically. http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/back-pain/neck-pain-c5-the-most-common-cause-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/

  • Kalidasa Apr 29, 2009, 3:48 pm

    Alison,
    Unfortunately, doctors don’t know much about adrenal fatigue. They know the biochemistry, and when I point it out to them they are like, “ooooh, I see.” They are just starting to include a class or two on natural healing techniques in some medical schools. Perhaps one day we’ll have a Golden Age where health is looked at as something to keep rather than get back to.

    There are many things that can be causing your symptoms. When you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. There is a technique in Applied Kinesiology that can help that greatly. Let me know if you still have that symptom in a couple of weeks when I am back. We can do a quick phone session for that if you need it.

  • Kalidasa Apr 29, 2009, 4:05 pm

    Traci,
    Exercise doesn’t burn enough calories to lose weight. Estrogens are what cause fat deposition, and most people’s livers don’t break estrogens down correctly, so they are always around causing fat to deposit. Here’s an article on that issue. http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=8
    And, here’s an article on the biochemistry of losing weight, don’t worry, it isn’t that complicated. http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=29

    The bloting and gas are usually caused by a candida overgrowth. Lactic acid yeast, supplement or in real sourkraut, can help relieve that issue. I need to write an article on that, it’s a big issue for millions. Also, enzymes might help, I like Multizyme from Standard Process.

    Fatigue in the afternoon for a couple of hours like you get is usually adrenal fatigue. My guess is that you are in phase 3 adrenal exhaustion which needs speciffic supplements and herbs. I am going to write another general article on those soon, but there is a lot of info here http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/adrenals/who-else-wants-help-for-adrenal-exhaustion-adrenal-support-for-adrenal-stress/

    For the afternoon tirdness, Withania comples from Medi Herb, one to three 30 minutes before it usually hits you. And, yes, Maca might not be working for you any more.

  • Jeff Apr 29, 2009, 6:28 pm

    Hi Kalidassa,

    I hope all is well with you.

    I am currently taking the Adrenal Dessicated by Standard Process and will be taking the Tribulus you recommended as a 2nd step. So that I can be prepared, could you advise as to what supplement I would need after the Tribulus? I just want to be prepared and avoid any shipping delays, etc.

    Also, when I complete the entire protocol what would you recommend to maintain the adrenal health?

    Thank you again,
    Jeff

  • Kalidasa Apr 29, 2009, 11:29 pm

    That can vary. How long till you finish the Tribulus? It would be good to talk to you, I have ways of telling what the best thing is. I am going to be back in the states in 10 days, or I can call you via skype if you need to know before that. My number will always be 510-295-4513. You can call now if you want, I get messages via email.

  • Jeff May 3, 2009, 8:14 am

    Kaldassa,p

    Today is only my 3rd day taking the Tribulus. I would love to talk to you when you get back. I don’t think there is an urgency to talk before then though I do appreciate the offer.

    Thank you again for all of your help.

    Jeff

  • Finn May 3, 2009, 12:41 pm

    Hi Kalidasa,

    So I got the results for my saliva/cortisol test. It indicates that my cortisol levels are in the “normal” range, but are on the upper limit for each of the six times it was tested. It also showed that I had a “normal” cortisol pattern, meaning highest in morning, then tapering off as the day goes on. There was one exception where I was above the “normal” range, and that was the 4 a.m. test. That could explain why I often wake up too early, and then have trouble getting good sleep afterwards. My DHEA levels were also measured, and they were the opposite; each time it was on the low end limit of the normal range. I’ve read that that is typical, if your cortisol is high, your dhea will be low, and vice versa.

    So, I’m curious what your thoughts are on this. I have many symptoms of adrenal fatigue, but I seem to have highish cortisol. Are these mutually exclusive or not? I have been noticing that I feel kind of strangely “wired” and the high cortisol seems to make sense. I don’t feel overly tired or groggy in the morning, it’s usually the opposite; I can’t sleep in very much, though I know my body needs good sleep.

    Thanks

  • Kalidasa May 3, 2009, 4:05 pm

    Jeff,
    Give me a call on the 9th or 10th. I plan on getting a phone right away. The number is 510 295 4513.

  • Kalidasa May 3, 2009, 4:12 pm

    Finn,
    I’m a little suspicious of the lab that did your test. Only a little though. Another possibility is that the medical idea of “normal” often exceds what is functional. Meaning that your highish cortosol levels probably still show adrenal fatigue. So, you might consider changing your diet, I suspect you’ve already done that? and taking some supplements.

    Also, I need to get a video up soon on how to feel the adrenal glands. It isn’t hard, and if they hurt when you push on them, then there is likely something going on. Another test is the postural blood pressure test if you have a way of checking your blood pressure. It’s not 100 percent, but pretty close. You can find it here: http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/adrenals/how-do-you-really-know-if-you-are-healthy-a-simple-test/

    K

  • Jeff May 5, 2009, 12:24 pm

    I will do that, thank you

  • Finn May 10, 2009, 9:36 am

    Kalidasa,
    After doing some searching around my lab tests are making more sense. It suggests my Cortisol is on the high extreme of normal, and at 4 am it exceeds the normal range by a good bit. A lot of people are saying that high cortisol levels are a common symptom in certain stages of adrenal fatigue. My DHEA is the inverse: On the extreme low end of normal. Are you familiar with DHEA supplelmentation? I’m considering it, though I’m going to try Seriphos (phosphorylated L-Serine) first, as it’s touted as a good cortisol lowering agent.
    You asked about diet. It’s a continual struggle, but I’m slowly getting better at cutting out grains/sugars, and I plan to stick to that. But i haven’t had a good run yet of eating really well for extended periods of time. I never touch caffeine, so at least I don’t have to worry about that.

    Finn

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